Better Than Butterbeer
by hufflepuff-hippie
Summary: Gingerbread and butterbeer go hand-in-hand of course but there's something better than butterbeer that compliments gingerbread. Lily Evans is proof of that. -jily secret santa drabble for snowyprongs-


James could've used a bloody butterbeer. People down the street were entering the pub laughing brightly as the warm and alcohol infused air hit them.

_Where was she?_

He was freezing his bloody arse off waiting outside to spot her bright red hair but after twenty minutes of waiting all he had currently were blue fingers and Gingerbread aroma surrounding him. Behind his grumpy demeanor, he was also worried. Anyone who knew him could tell because his fingers were hitting rhythmically against his jacket with jumpiness.

The sugary sweet smell was almost syrup-like to his senses as he stood in front of the sweets shop, waiting to spot a batch of particularly vivid red hair. The severe smells enveloped James' head, making it harder to focus. James felt like he was going to drown in the thick, cold, gingerbread air. _Perhaps_, he mused, _this is what the old witch in Hansel and Gretel had felt like living in a Gingerbread house._

"Want some Gingerbread?" the old witch who owned the sweets shop peeked out the front door of the shop, looking greyer than the last time James had seen her, "You've been standing outside my shop for a good hour Mr. Potter."

"Twenty minutes." James argues and the woman made a pointed stare.

The old woman knew James well enough considering he'd used to come to her shop often when he was a kid.

Snow under foot reminded James of just how much time had passed since he had last stepped foot in Hogsmede. The biting cold was much different from the sweltering heat James had been subjected to in June for graduation from his school. James thought that if he looked hard enough he could see the highest torrents of that very school in the distance. James knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him for even on the clearest of days, the towers of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were covered behind a veil of houses, shops, and trees.

Nevertheless, James' hazel eyes reached to the castle almost tenderly, since he knew that's where she would be coming from. He had managed to get her silvery doe patronus at last minute, her bubbly voice warning him she was back from the mission for their old Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and she was at Hogwarts.

James had wasted no time in saying he'd meet her for a butterbeer in Hogsmede. That's how he ended up sitting on the edge of the sweetshop being offered ginger by an old witch who clearly was vexed about him loitering around her shop.

"I'm not waiting for gingerbread." James answers with as much kindness as he could even though he was grumpy from the cold and lack of appearance of a whole different kind of ginger.

The old woman raises an old wrinkled brow, "Well, whatever you're waiting for Mr. Potter please wait for it away from my shop."

James stopped leaning against the wall and stood up straight, pretending to leave the corner of the shop. He stuck his hands into his warm pockets and watched out of the corner of his eye as the old woman reentered her shop. As soon as the coast was clear he resumed his same position against the corner of the building.

James glanced at his watch; the sun was going to go down soon. Her red hair should've been easy to spot in the thick wintry weather and yet James couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she hadn't gotten his patronus and she'd left without seeing him.

The shop door opened to his left and the bell ringed, bringing with the sound an even stronger sense of the gingerbread baking in the shop. James was about to gag from the intensity of the smell. Perhaps he should just leave and owl her later.

"I grabbed you a piece." a light and airy voice speaks up.

Before he can even glance to his left, he can feel the effect she has with simply her voice.

He doesn't even have to look at her to feel a warmth spead through him like he had just taken a bite of the gingerbread and drowned himself in hot butterbeer. She wraps her fingers around his arm. He turns his head and methodically takes in every inch of visible skin. Her lips are curved up in a smile and she is holding up a piece of gingerbread dusted in sugar. She is unscathed. James doesn't let go of the breath he is holding until he envelops her whole body into his arms.

"Hello." She teases, peering up through his grasp and then stuffing a piece of gingerbread into his mouth when he opens it to speak.

James doesn't have a fondness for the stiff cookies, normally preferring the softer sugar cookies, but this gingerbread has the consistency of a French loaf. Her green eyes are sparking like they have Christmas lights in them. It's like her green orbs are the evergreen branches and her personal aura imitates the twinkling lights on a Christmas tree. The gingerbread melts on his tongue and suddenly his senses are so overwhelmed by the smell, the taste, the sights, the sounds of her consistent giggling…

She is about to say something more. No doubt she was about to tell him how she almost died—or some codswollop like that—she liked making him angry. She once told him it entertained her because he got so defensive when he was angry. James tightens his arms around her waist and he lifts her slightly. Her small frame leans into his and he leans down to capture her lips with his, the taste of gingerbread lingering as her presses kiss after kiss on her all-to-willing lips. His hands leave her waist in order to caress her face, his fingers are frozen against her warm cheeks but each tug of her lips against his only makes his whole body feel warmer.

"So how about that drink at the pub you promised?" she grins, leaning away from him as he tries to capture her in another kiss under the lights of the sweets shop.

James felt warmed and ready for much more than a trip to the pub with one hundred other blokes when he could have the vivacious redhead all to himself in a secluded corner of his flat. Who needed butterbeer when a few kisses with Lily Evans supplied the same effect?

He answers her with a mischievous grin, "I have a better idea."

Lily frowns, but her eyes are twinkling as she knows exactly what he is expecting. "I was looking forward to getting butterbeer." she is teasing him.

He presses a kiss to her temple, "This is going to be _much_ better than butterbeer."

She repeats him, while sliding her fingers around the back of his neck, "Better than butterbeer?"

Her lips are inches from his and he stares into her eyes, "Much better."


End file.
